Oneshot: Random
by TomPen94
Summary: How do you meet with your friends? Do you make plans? Do you call them over to your place? Do you schedule an hour and meet up somewhere? Here's how the people in Ichigo's circle of Nakama do it.


So I've been reading a lot of Bleach lately.

And as such I let myself be hyped by it. I'm not much of a fanfic writer for Bleach since 1- I was super distracted by Naruto and 2- my (deleted) Bleach fanfics were terrible. Still, some of my recent Naruto fics have been rather successful and since I'm hyped about Bleach I might as well give my imagination another try and come up with something for Bleach.

Unlike my previous Bleach fanfics, this one is shipping-free (at least I think it is). So I'd like to think this will attract people from all the sides... maybe?

This fic has been inspired the colorspread of chapter 304. It contains my favorite group of characters so it got me rather well.

In any case, enjoy.

-o-

He had no idea of what he was doing. Wait. That wasn't exactly true. He was walking down the street with what looked like the most random bunch of people in existence. Two people were talking, and the other two were silent. He was one of the silent ones. Along with the giant, he strolled down the street. It had been raining that day, so the grey pavement was still wet. If they started running, they would probably slip and fall flat on the ground. He took a look around, they were in what he could only describe as a lame square. A few benches, of the same material as the floor were scattered around along with some naked trees. If he looked closely, he could see the remnants of rain drops slowly gathering on the tips of the branches and falling down from the tree. The city was practically deserted. The rain had darkened the sky with clouds that still hadn't gone away, there were very few people on the streets and almost no cars were going around. He deduced it was because of the rain along with it being Sunday.

Okay, so he knew what he was doing. He just didn't really understand how the heck he had agreed to this. He looked at the other people walking with him. Out in the front was the girl of the… group. Wanting to be prepared for the rain, she was geared up for it. She sported a yellow rain jacket that had some weird plastic flap attached to the jacket's hood. She wore impermeable yellow boots, completing the look of her jacket and carried a pink umbrella. She cheerfully led the group through the street, she was almost jogging in excitement and was talking happily with the other orange haired person of the group.

The guy was taller than the girl, and his hair, while also orange, was brighter than hers. Unlike her, he had managed not to go out on the rain. What he was wearing was… weird to say the least. He was wearing a light pink sweatshirt with a yellow collar, along with some regular jeans that, he thought, did not match the shirt at all. He was carrying a bag of groceries. His walk was lazy and relaxed, following the apparent leader of the group as he kept talking to her.

The silent giant walked beside the orange haired man. He was much taller than the rest. He was wearing a dark green shirt and deep black jeans. The simple dark outfit contrasted that of his friends. He was carrying a bag over his shoulder and kept his stride so as to accompany the group.

Lastly was himself. He was, like the orange haired people, wearing clothes in bright colors. He had a lime green sweatshirt covered by an overcoat, also lime green. He was wearing white pants which, he thought, complimented the lime green shirt he had. Unlike his friends, he wasn't carrying anything so he had his hands completely free.

Having scanned the group, it only solidified his belief they were the most random bunch of people out there. You had to see to believe they were walking together down the street. Of course, it didn't help that they were, in fact, a random group. He had gone outside to catch some air, for reasons he was still trying to figure out, and bumped into Inoue-san and Sado-kun on the street. He talked to them, only to find out they were out on the street for no good reason like him. Still, they decided to walk around town, if anything just to enjoy a nice walk. As they passed the market, they found Kurosaki who, despite having come there to buy groceries for his father, decided to join them.

He didn't really know where they were going, and with Inoue-san on the wheel, there was no way to know. Maybe she wanted to go to the park, or maybe she wanted to see the river, or maybe even go to their High School during vacation. You never knew with her.

"And then Tatsuki-chan said it was all wrong and that I had to try again." Orihime commented as she kept leading the group. She didn't really know where to go, she just guessed she would go in whatever direction her feet would take her. They were about to leave the square and were going into a large street with tall buildings on both sides.

"What? But didn't you score?" Ichigo asked. He was the only one talking with Inoue. Even though he wasn't a guy for chitchat Inoue needed to talk to someone, and with the company they had, it might as well be him. Chad was always the silent type, he never talked unless it was necessary, and would respond to most questions with an affirmative 'hmm'. Ishida was, well… Ishida. Half of the noise he made was him straightening his glasses. Knowing Inoue she would probably try not to say anything until all of the random things she wanted to talk about pent up and made her blow up, maybe even literally.

"I did but she told me my balance was off and that I was lucky that I scored." Orihime said. She noticed they were about to pass a fruit store she used to go to. Maybe she should buy some apples or oranges? Even if Kurosaki-kun had been at the market, they were groceries he had gotten for his father, so obviously that was out of the question. This whole walk was random, might as well have something to eat, even something as random as a fruit bought at a store they just happened to walk by. For some reason that thought was funny to her.

"Tch! That Tatsuki…" he scoffed "She doesn't give you a break, does she?"

"Ah, but that's no problem! It was fun!" Orihime cheered "I'll have you know I scored three more-"

"Then you shouldn't eat them before you pay for them!" they heard a voice, cutting off Orihime's brag. She easily identified the source, it was coming from the fruit store. The voice was also oddly familiar. She looked to see Abarai-kun and Kuchiki-san coming out of the store. She was quick to notice Kuchiki-san was holding onto a peeled tangerine by her mouth. The two 'groups' stopped and looked at each other in mild surprise.

"Renji… Rukia…?" Ichigo said. He didn't know Renji and Rukia were around, and even if he knew, he would never guess they'd come to this random store in the middle of the city… to buy some tangerines.

"Hey, you guys…" Renji said "Fancy meeting you here." he took the liberty of talking while Rukia munched down on the tangerine she had tried to eat before they paid for them.

"What are you doing here?" Ichigo asked. He noticed they were in gigais, as they weren't wearing their standard shihakushos. Renji appeared to be prepared for a blizzard. His violet bandana almost covered his entire hair, leaving only the spiky 'pineapple part' visible. He was wearing a black winter jacket and had covered his neck with a yellow scarf. However, he was wearing regular jeans. Rukia was wearing a deep pink blouse with a hood and matching trousers. She didn't say a word, she just kept eating the tangerine.

"Day off." Renji answered.

"Day off?" Ichigo raised an eyebrow. Since when did Shinigami have days off? Especially when one of those Shinigami was a Lieutenant. Something was off here.

Rukia finished eating the tangerine and spewed out the remnant seeds before speaking up "Before you start going off on your paranoia- Yes, it is a day off. We work for decades in the Gotei 13. Every now and then we do get a day off. So we came here. Any problems with that?"

"Yeah. I don't believe any of your bullshit." Ichigo scoffed "Now tell me-"

"AAAAHH!" Orihime shouted, startling the whole group. She nervously pointed at Rukia, earning a bewildered look from the petite Shinigami "Those… Those pigtails…" she had only now just noticed. Kuchiki-san had caught her hair in two tiny tails at the back of her head "They look so cute!" she squealed.

"Eh?" Rukia blinked for a few seconds, before blushing slightly and combing her hair "You like them…? I wasn't sure if I was gonna put them…"

"Excelent choice, Kuchiki-san!" Orihime said in excitement, she got closer to Rukia and held her free hand, as if congratulating her.

Rukia sighed as she stopped blushing "Thank you, Inoue." She smiled.

Sado looked at the scene. His thoughts were on the words Kuchiki had said. Maybe Ichigo was in paranoia, Hollow activity had been pretty low for the last few weeks and he didn't find it likely that it would go up anytime soon. He doubted anything out of the ordinary would happen, especially since they hadn't heard anything from Urahara-san. He was certain that if something was up, the previous 12th Division Captain would at least warn them. But he would be lying if he said that he didn't find the fact that two Gotei 13 members got a day off odd. Especially when those members were Abarai and Kuchiki.

Uryu glanced at the silent giant. He understood Sado-kun was thinking the same as him. He looked at the red-haired Shinigami "Anyway, are you really telling the truth? I find it hard to believe you would get a day off. I find it harder to believe you two got the same day and that they'd let you come to the Human World to spend that day."

"You're right." Renji said "It's not a day off. It's a vacation."

"Vacation?" Uryu asked. There was no way he would believe that they had a vacation. At least not without an explanation "How exactly did you manage that?"

"We were trying to make you guys a surprise. That's why we didn't say anything when we first got here." Rukia said "But it is true. We got a vacation. Let's just say that belonging to a noble family has its benefits."

"Byakuya?" Ichigo said in disbelief "Byakuya gave you guys a vacation? Did he get you tickets for a five-star hotel too?" the sarcasm in his voice was obvious, he didn't even try to hide it. It was already pretty fishy that _both_ Renji and Rukia got a day off. Byakuya actually giving them a _vacation_ had to be bullshit.

"Knock it off, you dimwit." Renji snorted "Why is it so hard to believe that?"

"Well, let me see…" Ichigo put his hand on his chin, feigning deep thought. He was obviously trying to mock them. Not that he cared "Oh I got it! Gotei 13, Lieutenant and _Byakuya_."

"If you don't want to believe that Nii-sama did that for us, then don't." Rukia crossed her arms in annoyance "But for the next two weeks, Renji and I will be here in Karakura Town. And _nothing will happen_." She put as much emphasis on that last part as she could. She wasn't sure if Ichigo would get it, he probably wouldn't, but she could try at least.

He wasn't entirely convinced, but he decided to let it go. He didn't really have any reasons to doubt them. It was weird that both Renji and Rukia would get a damn vacation at the same time, but whatever. Whether they were telling the truth or they were trying to keep him in the dark about something, he would find out soon enough. If it was true though, that meant Byakuya was getting really soft. Or maybe he didn't give the guy enough credit.

"So, Abarai-kun and Kuchiki-san are on vacation here in Karakura Town…" Orihime said, more to herself than the others. She was trying to make sure she had gotten everything right.

"Yes." Rukia confirmed.

"That's great!" Orihime threw her hands in the air in celebration "We are on vacation too!"

"Really?"

"Yes! We should hang out!" Orihime suggested. It wasn't every day that you could just hang out with people from Soul Society. She had already thought of doing this before, but whenever Abarai-kun and Kuchiki-san were in the Human World they were on a mission. But this was the perfect chance! "Maybe going to the movies one day! Or maybe we should go to the beach! Maybe we could have a picnic! Maybe…"

Inoue's enthusiasm had brightened the atmosphere from the slightly hostile one it had been. Rukia wondered how the girl could be so energetic. But she was very pleased that Inoue was thinking of making plans with them. She had never really hung out before. Not only was she terrible at making friends (which got her wondering how she managed to make such good ones in the Human World), but in Soul Society you barely had time for yourself. This was going to be entirely new territory for her. But she wanted to do it nonetheless. However, she would need time to think about what to do. Two weeks weren't that long and Inoue was bombarding her with suggestions. She'd have to choose.

"Yes." Rukia said, once Orihime had stopped her suggestion frenzy "I'd like to try some of those out. How about you, Renji?"

"Do you need to ask? We came here to relax and have some fun." Renji said "Of course we'll do it."

"Hmph…" Ichigo looked at Sado and Ishida. They didn't appear to be displeased at the idea of spending their vacation with the folks from Soul Society. He wasn't much of a face reader, but he was pretty sure they even liked the idea. He knew Chad would have no problem. And Ishida… Well even if he didn't want to, he'd have to suck it up "It's settled then. We'll make some plans with you guys." He said, looking back at Renji and Rukia.

"So, we've met here…" Renji said, looking around. He was still a bit taken aback that he would meet Ichigo and the others in front of a fruit store in the middle of the city. That was the most random location he could've thought of "What were you guys doing?"

"Well, we were going to…" Ichigo stopped. Where were they going? Oh right, he didn't know that. He had just met up with Inoue, Chad and Ishida after he got out of the market and joined them. Well, if someone had to know it was the one that had been leading the group "Where were we going, Inoue?"

"Ahahaha…!" Orihime gave a nervous laugh "I don't know."

"You don't know?" Ichigo asked.

"Well you see, Kurosaki-kun… After the rain stopped I left home for a walk. Then I met Sado-kun and he told me he wasn't really going anywhere so we just went to take a walk around the city when we bumped into Ishida-kun. Then when we walked by the market, you appeared and tagged along. Then we came down from the square and met with Abarai-kun and Kuchiki-san and… here we are!" Orihime said. After explaining the situation out loud she realized just how stupid the whole thing was, it made her a bit embarrassed. Still, it wasn't bad at all. She met Kuchiki-san again and they were going to hang out in the next weeks!

"So we've just been aimlessly walking around the city without any direction?" Ichigo asked, Orihime nodded. He stood still for a while and looked at the others. Inoue, Chad, Ishida, Rukia and Renji. He couldn't believe that this had happened. This group of people wasn't strange to him. He knew these people all too well "Well this is one hell of a coincidence…"

"I know! I'm just as surprised as you are, Kurosaki-kun!" Orihime replied. Trully this was a massive coincidence. Ever since she had left home she had bumped into her friends one after the other and they seemed to have no reason to be outside or to come along with her. She wondered how likely this would've been…

"In any case, let's move." Uryu said "We've been standing in front of this store for a while now. The shopkeeper is starting to look funny at us."

"Right!" Orihime said as she took the lead once again.

The group, now of six people, continued walking down the street. Sado looked up ahead and noticed that if they continued on this street they would eventually get to the river. Still he wasn't sure if they were going to reach it since Inoue was the one that was guiding them. She was now chatting with Kuchiki while Abarai and Ichigo started bantering back and forth. The group was unmistakably louder. Their numbers had increased, but the amount of silent people remained the same. Like him, Ishida kept walking without saying a word. He looked around the street. The sky had cleared up a bit, the sun's rays were getting stronger and making their way through the clouds. With the city completely wet because of the rain, the new sunlight gave the buildings, trees, floor and everything else a sort of shiny look. Unsurprisingly, it got a bit warmer. He found the feeling quite pleasant, and allowed his muscles to relax, taking in as much of the new warmth as he could. The day had been rainy and it had been cold. Nothing that would bother him, but he still preferred the new temperature. Thinking about it, he wasn't expecting a rainy day at this time of the year. Adding to the list of coincidences was this very day. It was an amusing thought.

"Anyway, what's up with your outfit? Are you going to Mt. Fuji or something?" Ichigo commented. While the day hadn't been exactly a beach day, it sure as hell wasn't that cold. Renji's choice of clothing seemed a bit excessive, especially now that the sun was coming up.

"What's wrong with my clothing? I felt cold, so I don't see the problem!" Renji retorted.

"It's not _that_ cold. I'm managing just fine without a jacket that makes me look like a tank."

"I don't wanna hear that kind of bullshit from a guy that's wearing pink!" Renji shot back. He would never understand the human's taste in clothes. Every time he came to the Human World, he found this weird trend gaining more and more ground. It had gotten so bad even Ichigo had succumbed to it. He had always found pink a color for girls, seeing guys wearing it was just… weird.

"Oh right… I forgot you're like 100 years old! No wonder your sense of fashion is outdated." Ichigo said "Besides, in case you forgot, your own Captain's Zanpakutou is freaking pink! Why don't you go and tell him that?"

"Senbonzakura is _not_ pink! The scattered blades just look like Sakura petals, they're still steel blades!" Renji replied "Besides, even if they were pink, that's just how his Zanpakutou is. He can't control that. You, however, _chose_ that color to dress!"

"Give me a goddamn break! This color's just fine! I don't wanna hear any of your grumpy-old-man crap!" Ichigo scoffed "And in any case, it's infinitely better than looking like a lemon!"

He wasn't sure if he had heard right. Kurosaki was arguing with Abarai, right? But for some reason, he thought he was being insulted by the Substitute Shinigami. Why was that? He had heard the phrase 'better than looking like a lemon'. He was wearing a lime green jacket… Kurosaki was definitely taking jabs at him. He cleared his throat, cutting off the banter between the two Shinigamis "Excuse me…? Did you just say I look like a lemon, Kurosaki?"

"Yeah, I did." Ichigo said in annoyance. He noticed the look of disapproval the Quincy gave him "Why are you looking at me like that? It's true!"

"Wearing lime green does not make me look like a lemon!"

"No, but wearing a lime green shirt with a lime green jacket over it does. I mean, seriously, did you even look in the mirror before you left home?" Ichigo replied "Not only that, you look like a shining beacon! Every time I look at you my eyes get burned!"

"Hmph! In case you forgot, when I left home, it had just rained. It's not my fault that the sun is coming out now!" Uryu shot back "I was keeping out of the conversation, but you just had to take a jab at me didn't you?"

"It's your fault that you have terrible fashion sense. I mean, I don't really care about fashion but even I can detect terrible taste."

"You do, don't you? Have you looked at yourself? Why in the world would anyone believe that light pink would go well with those jeans?" Uryu said. He wasn't just trying to mock Kurosaki. He truly thought that combination of colors was horrendous. No, he didn't think it was horrendous. It _was_ horrendous.

The group had become even louder. The number of silent people had been brought down to one. Sado kept walking alongside the others without making a sound. The five people speaking, no, the three people shouting and the two people chatting made enough of a noise to echo throughout the street. A street that was practically void of any people. They had the city for themselves. In that day, when it rained for no reason. In that day, when they left home and walked around for no reason. In that day, when they found Renji and Rukia on a vacation for no reason. The six kept walking throughout the streets, following Orihime wherever her feet took her. Yes, if there was one word that could describe that day, it was…

Random.

-o-

And that was it!

I'm thinking about the possibility of making this a multi-chapter fic. There are other colorspreads with these characters and I could draw some inspiration from them as well. I'm not sure, so for now it stands as a one-shot, but I did open up the possibility with the whole vacation business (I know it's a bunch of crap, but meh it'll do).

If I do go forward with the idea, the name of the fic will obviously change.

Anyway, tell me what you thought about it. Leave a review!


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